June 18, 2008
Philippines to release new poultry importation regulations
Poultry raisers in the Philippines are awaiting the release of the new rules for chicken importation under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme.
United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) president Gregorio San Diego said the Department of Agriculture (DA) and industry players are still discussing the new rules. Earlier, the DA said it will come out with the new rules by the first quarter of 2008.
Previously, the agreement was to allocate 50 percent of the MAV to the industry, 40 percent to traders and 10 percent to the DA. Gregorio said it appears that the DA now wants to do it on a "first come, first served" basis.
He said traders were uncertain of the "first come, first served" basis rule as the new set of regulations was unclear.
San Diego said old MAV rules, which as of the moment are still in effect, may no longer be implemented this year.
The MAV refers to the minimum volume for specific agricultural products that members of the World Trade Organization have agreed to allow entry to their respective countries at lower-than-regular tariff rates.
For this year, the MAV allowed by the Philippine government for chicken is 23 million kilograms or 23,000 tonnes.
Earlier, the DA said the review of the MAV rules on chicken imports was undertaken to make it "more responsive to the demands of the market."
The Philippines produces about 643,000 tonnes, with imports accounting for only about 5 percent of domestic demand, or about 33,633 tonnes.
